TV Critics: Line of Duty; What Would Be Your Miracle?; The Extraordinary Case of Alex Lewis; The Hairy Bikers

“It’s extraordinary, intense, butt-clenchingly gripping television. The last time I was this involved in a case was when I was doing actual jury service, though that time I had some say in the outcome. That’s the power of Line of Duty: it’s not just brilliant drama, it envelops you, and is plausible to the point that it pretty much becomes reality.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Yesterday’s finale was properly placed, unpredictable and satisfying. Like Macbeth, Line of Duty made corruption fascinating. Another 30 minutes and we might have been treated to a psychological disintegration of Shakespearean proportions.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“The chapter-and-verse technique in Line Of Duty has never been more dramatic than at the climax to Jed Mercurio’s superb police thriller. Every official caution, every excerpt from rules and regulations, had the force of bravura script-writing.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“The good guys prevailed. The villains were killed, caught or got their comeuppance. All boxes were ticked with panache. It was a satisfying end.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“What really floored the viewer was not just Garin’s bravery, but the selfless courage of his mum, Adele. The moment when, after weeks of physiotherapy, he rose from his chair and walked with determination across the room into his mother’s arms was a miracle on a Biblical scale.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“ITV ladled an oil slick of golden syrup all over What Would Be Your Miracle? The families and their circumstances were in and of themselves captivating, which made the heavy-handed format all the more irksome. My miracle would be watching a documentary that brought more substance than sentimentality to such a promising topic.”
Ceri Radford, The Telegraph

“As ITV’s new cockle-warmer reminded us, life-changing events are rarely the stuff of dreams. It took a lot of work and courage and patience for these miracles to translate into better lives. Watching the process was far from easy but it certainly had its rewards.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“ As with other fly-on-the-wall documentaries of this kind, there was the inevitable hint of voyeurism, but Channel 4 softened the sucker punch of shock value with the silk glove of sensitivity.”
Ceri Radford, The Telegraph

“There was much to be mourned in last night’s programme, a whole industry and a whole culture of drinking and revelry gone with it. The Bikers might not have been cooking but they served up a fine slice of working-class history.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express